Conversations stay in my mind long after the person I had them with has left me.

Here’s an interesting thought brought about by a conversation with a very nice Dom earlier this morning.

Does a Dominant have to automatically punish a submissive?

Perhaps she is a careful sub who does her best at all times so there is no need for more than a warning or verbal (or non-verbal) punishment for her to understand she has transgressed and therefore should change her behavior.

Does it make her a doormat if she is perceptive enough to understand when she has stepped out of line and work toward changing the offending behavior?

Perhaps if her needs and opinions on things are being ignored that might be the case but if she is a quick study and is desirous of being the best possible submissive she can be then I can’t see that her changing unwanted behaviors would lead her to being a doormat.

So, I can’t see a need for physical punishments if she is truly doing her best. Now if the submissive becomes lazy and takes for granted her Dominant’s authority in her life and begins to become careless then yes I could see a need for punishments. However, if, as I understand submission, one is the property of a Dominant then it is up to the Dominant to find ways of correcting the behavior without needing to resort to punishment.

Would you whip your car if it ran out of gas? Or perhaps flog the toaster because it refused to toast your bread just so any more?

I would like to think that instead of instantly punishing transgressions a Dominant would take the time to find out the problem.

Or is this simply something that the submissive should work on once the Dominant has pointed out the fault?

But then perhaps almost 6 am is too late or too early for such thoughts and I should haul my booty off to bed.